Exploring Materials Around Us

In our new unit of inquiry, Year 5 students are learning about materials and their characteristics. We are exploring questions such as: Are materials hard or soft? Are they light or heavy? What are things around us made from? To begin this investigation, we took our learning outside the classroom.

During the lesson, students went outside to carefully observe the environment around the school. Their task was to look for different objects and identify the materials they we re made from. Students wrote their observations on worksheets, noting examples such as wood, metal, plastic, stone, and glass. They also began thinking about the properties of these materials, such as whether they were hard, soft, rough, smooth, light, or heavy.

After returning to the classroom, students shared their findings with the class. Using their notes, they prepared short presentations on paper and explained what they had discovered. This allowed them to practice not only their scientific observation skills, but also their communication and presentation abilities.

The activity helped students realize how many different materials exist in our everyday surroundings and how each material has unique characteristics. By exploring the school environment, students experienced science in a hands-on and meaningful way, turning simple observations into valuable learning.